Proverbs 14:14 - You Reap What You Sow.

Proverbs 14:14: You Reap What You Sow.
CONTENT; What's in the verse; Translations; Paraphrase; Word
Study:
Prov 14:14 (KJV) The backslider in heart shall be filled with
his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
Prov 14:14 (NKJV) The backslider in heart will be filled with
his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied from above.
Prov 14:14 (TEV) Bad people will get what they deserve. Good
people will be rewarded for their deeds.
The "backslider," i.e., "the one turned away in heart" from God,
finds his pleasure in going his own way (cf. v. 12) regardless of
ethical considerations. [Believer's SB]
CONTEXT; What's around the verse; Overview; Topic:
The Proverbs of Solomon (10:1-22:16)
The major collection attributed to Solomon (10:1-22:16)
Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
CROSS REFERENCES; What's in verses elsewhere.
Galatians 6:8 (KJV) For he that soweth to his flesh shall of
the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of
the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Matthew 7:13-14 (KJV) Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide
is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and
many there be which go in thereat: [14] Because strait is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be
that find it.
Gal 6:7 (KJV) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
COMMENTARY / APPLICATION: Moving From The Head To The Heart
What is God teaching here? What does it teach about Jesus?
One of the significant contrasts between the two ways of Matthew
7:13 and 14 is that the broad way is "easy" and the narrow way is
"hard."
"Easy." That is a nice word, a pleasant word. I wonder what it
means.
I remember a few years ago when I was backpacking in the Wind
River Range of the Wyoming Rockies. I had struggled all day up an
extremely steep trail and had finally reached a plateau that ran parallel
to Lizardhead Peak. I was dead tired. Carrying my 65-pound pack the
next seven or eight miles to the next valley seemed almost more than
I could bear.
At that point I met another hiker, who told me of a shortcut
that would save me several hours. It was much "easier." The so-called
shortcut may have been shorter, but it was not easier. I struggled for a
day and a half over terrain that I didn't think could be crossed
with a full pack.
The moral: Things aren't always what they seem. The easy way is
sometimes the hard way in the end.
That's the way it is for many on the broad way. Hangovers, AIDS,
and a host of other diseases that stem from life on the fast track
make life more difficult than it would have been had they been more
temperate.
But let's face it. Many people on the broad way don't face those
difficulties. Their lives are moderate and even moral, in the secular sense of
the term. Their way really does seem easy. They are just doing what
comes naturally.
But that is where the other great contrast of the two ways comes
in. The broad way, Jesus tells us, leads to destruction, while the
narrow way leads to life. And once again, there are no alternatives.
Everyone will someday either go to their heavenly reward or be eternally
destroyed.
Each of us has a choice in this matter. Would we rather have it
easy now and hard later, or hard now and easy later? [Walking With
Jesus By Knight re Mat.7:13, 14]
In A Slow and Certain Light, Elizabeth Elliot writes: "Two young
Americans with high adventure in their hearts arrived in the city of
Quito, Ecuador, on their way to the 'Great Amazon Rain Forest' east of
the Andes. They were going on a six-week trek and planned to write a
book about their experiences.... They had been to an army surplus
store before they left home and bought everything the salesman told
them they would need.... What more could they want? There was, it
occurred to them when they reached Quito, one thing - the language - and
when they learned that a jungle missionary was in town, they came to
see me.... 'Just give us a few phrases,' they said.... They
described their equipment to me with great pride, and I could see that it
was not going to be of much use. I wanted to tell them that what
they ought to have was a guide...." "Sometimes we come to God as the
two adventurers came to me - confident and, we think, well-informed
and well equipped. But it has occurred to us that with all our
accumulation of stuff something is missing.... What we really ought to have
is the Guide himself." [God's Little Devotional Bible re
Pro.14:12]
The natural inclination in Christian living is to act on the
impulse of a good idea. Not every good idea is from God. Sometimes good
ideas get in the way of God ideas.
Where does your inspiration come from? The vision of the
transfigured Christ inspired Peter: "O Lord, it is good for us to be here. If
you wish, I will put up three shelters - one for you, one for Moses
and one for Elijah" (Matthew 17:4). Our natural impulse is to do
something good for God and suggest it to Him.
The tendency of the well-meaning person is to prepare a plan to
do some good idea, and then pray, "Jesus, this is my plan. It is a
good plan. It hurts no one, and I want it to please You. Lord, please
bless my plan." It is plan, then pray.
So many of our ideas are impetuous. They are not what the Lord
wants to do. They do not resemble in any way the things which concern
Him. We have good ideas, but they are not God ideas. His agenda and
our agenda conflict. We want to build Him a shelter but that is not
what He wants.... When Peter, James, and John heard the voice of the
Lord . . . they abandoned their inventive-but-self-made idea. The
presence of the Lord magnified, and His holiness brought them to their
senses. Jesus gained their attention, not by subduing them with a stern
scolding, but by magnifying His presence until all the genius of their
human ideas was bleached out by His refulgent face.
When they abandoned their good idea and fell facedown before the
Lord, He could work with them again....
When you and I abandon our good idea and fall to our face before
me Lord, then He will come and touch us, too. When we pursue our
own plan He cannot use us. We must abandon our good idea and fall
facedown before Him. Then He will be able to use us again. Then He will
reveal what He is doing - a God idea.... It is pray, then plan. Through
prayer, Jesus instructs of His plan, a God idea.
Prayer removes the impulse of the good idea, the good idea born
of human ingenuity but not of God. Pray, then plan. It is the habit
of the surrendered saint. (Walking with Christ in the Details of
Life by Patrick M. Morley) [Inspirational SB re Mat.13:12]